Tag Archive: Reuse Old Laptops

Refurbished laptops are increasing in popularity. If you are on a budget and you need a good laptop maybe you can opt to reuse old laptops. Reusing an old laptop or refurbishing is not only environment friendly but it is also very important. There are companies that refurbish laptops while there are merchants or individuals who refurbish laptops as well. It is due to that reason that you can get laptops with better specification than the new version of the same new laptop and at a great price.

With refurbished laptops you can get your dream brand laptop with great specifications which make it very powerful and still at a great price. Buying a new laptop is still a better option in some cases but if you are on a budget, refurbished laptops may be the route to take so that you get more for less. At the same cost a refurbished will have way great features and a new laptop less features while at the same price.

In order to get a good laptop however, it is better to go for a well-known brand, as you will be sure of the quality build and after sales support. If you buy from an individual it might be hard to get a guarantee and after sales support. There are those who prefer buying from a nearby merchant they know so that in case of any problem they can always run to the store for support. It all depends on your preference.

There are many budget laptops that you can get that have great specifications at a great price. Refurbished laptops come in a range of prices so it depends on your budget. Even at just $100 you can get a refurbished with great features. Some of the best refurbished laptops under $100 include:

Apple MacBook MB881LL/A 13.3-inch

Well the MacBook is a laptop that is loved by many since Apple is a strong brand. As much as many would love to have it, it is not affordable to all and even if it’s affordable to get a new one with great feature will have to part with quite an amount. Normally you need about $1000 and above to get a good new laptop, but you can get a refurbished one at a fraction of the price and the good news is that you can even get one under $100, yes under $100. Apple has refurbished the Apple MacBook MB881LL/A which is a 2009 version with great specs. The only difference with the refurbished version is modern aluminum was used in place of white polycarbonate. Some of its specifications include:

It comes with DD2 2GB ram which is okay for normal performance functions, but can still be upgraded. Has NVIDIA GeForce 9400 graphics card which is great for gaming.

Intel Core2 Duo P7350 2.0GHz

NVidia GeForce 9400M

4.5 hours battery life

Weight of 5lbs

Its limitations include:

Poor battery life

120 GB HDD is small and might need upgrading

Has an older hardware which may not work well with new intensive apps.

Limited to older Mac OS X versions

Lenovo ThinkPad T61 14.1-inch

Lenovo has been known for a long time to produce the Think pad series which is a business laptop series. The T61 is among the first versions of the Think pad series. Even though it looks old school, it has a solid build with a black matte finish which makes it feel high quality. The latest laptops in the ThinkPad series have the same look only that they are slimmer in size and improved features. This is basically just a laptop for basic use for those who don’t need to do complicated stuff on the laptop. It has okay specifications and runs on windows 7. There is however some features that can be upgraded for better user experience. Some of the specifications of the Lenovo ThinkPad T61 14.1-inch include:

Has a 14.1 inch wide screen with a screen resolution of 1,440 x 900. Good thing with the screen is that it is non-glossy and thus one can watch at different angles.

A weight of 5 pounds

2.5 hours long battery life

Processor of core 2 duo T7300 at speeds of 2 GHz

2GB ram

80GB HDD hard drive

Acer Aspire One AO1-431-C8G8 14-inch

Even though it is slightly higher than $100 it may still fall under the $100 range category since it gives value for money. It is an amazon refurbished laptop that comes with a 90 day warranty. It can be used as an alternative to cheap chrome books and entry level tablets as it has features and specs that are similar windows 10 tablets. Its only limitation however is that is non-upgradable and the screen resolution feels low quality. Some of the features of the Acer Aspire One AO1-431-C8G8 Include:

Intel Celeron N3050 with speeds 1.60 GHz

Intel HD Graphics

2GB of DDR3L RAM

32GB of eMMC flash memory but can be expanded

Has a hardware that is tablet based and thus comes with a fanless system for temperature and noise control

Have a screen size of 14 inches with anti-glare feature and a screen resolution of 1366×768

Comes with useful inbuilt cloud apps

8hr battery life

Windows 10 Home

Weight of 3.46 lbs. which is very light weight

Dell Latitude E6400

The Latitude E 6400 was released as an upgrade to the latitude D630 which lacked many features as a business laptop. The E6400 is a superior with better hardware and design. It has a body made of sturdy magnesium alloy with a brushed aluminum finish which makes it appear stylish though heavier due to the solid metal construction. It has a keyboard that is backlit with big keys but without a separate number pad. Some of its other features:

Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 2.26GHz

Intel GMA X4500 HD Shared

2GB DDR2 RAM

80GB 5400 RPM HDD

14.1 inch, 1280 x 800 pixels (TN)

Windows 7 Professional

3.5 hours battery life

Has a Weight of 6.6 lbs.

E-SATA external connector

HP Probook 6450B

The HP Probook range is very common among business users. Since HP is a strong brand and a new one may be expensive, one can still get a refurbished one at a cheaper price. The HP Probook 6450B is a refurbished version from 2010 but with great features. It however does not come with an inbuilt camera and thus to use Skype and other apps that may need a webcam one might need to buy a separate webcam. Some of its features may include:

Intel Core i3-350M at 2.26GHz

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD Shared

2GB DDR3 RAM that is upgradable

160GB HDD

14 inch, 1366 x 768 pixels (TN)

Windows 7 Professional and if you need to upgrade to windows 10 you will need additional ram for smooth running of the machine

4.75 hours battery life

Has a weight of 5.31 lbs.

Fingerprint reader

Older hardware that may not run well with new intensive apps

Have two USB ports

Dell Latitude D620

The Dell Latitude D620 is one of the best laptops that were made in the Latitude range. It was made with business people from the upmarket in mind with special consideration on the quality build. It works well with windows XP just for basic usage. Since it is an old model, it also does not come with an inbuilt camera and a wireless option. It also has only a single speaker which may pose as an inconvenience to some people. It still has very many great features that are worth looking into and they include:

Intel Core Duo T2400 1.83GHz]

Intel GMA 900 Shared

2GB DDR2 RAM

80GB 5400 RPM HDD

14.1 inch, 1280 x 800 pixels (TN)

Windows XP professional

3.25 hours battery life

Has a weight of 5.1 lbs.

Solid build quality

Good keyboard

Cheap replacement parts

Dell Latitude D430

The D430 is one of the older ultra-book notebooks that were introduced by Dell as a business laptop. Even though it is not as ultra slim as the latest modern designs, it is still very thin and light weight with a strong magnesium alloy build to give it a quality build. It has an entry level performance that is best for basic functions. Some of the features of the Dell D430 include:

Intel Core 2 Duo U7600 1.2GHz processor

Intel GMA 950 Shared

2GB DDR2 RAM

80GB 5400 RPM HDD though the system files takes up 20GB

12.1 inch, 1280 x 800 pixels (TN) although it does not support 16:9 aspect ratio that is common in monitors nowadays

Windows XP upgradable to windows 7

6 hours battery life

Has a weight of 3.1 lbs.

Good port selection

Ultra-portable

Good quality build

Some of the limitations of the laptop however are: that it does not come with a webcam, it has no wireless option, and it has an older hardware that can only functions basic tasks, no optical drive, poor speakers that are not loud, and it runs hot at times.

Apple iBook M9165LL/A

Even though the Apple iBook M9165LL/A is an old laptop in the apple series, it is still a preferred option for basic tasks. Apple does not disappoint in design as it comes with a white case and curved design. It is equipped with a simple operating system of Mac OS X which is the easiest to use. The fact that it is old and still on demand can tell you about the quality of the product though it cannot run advanced applications. It is best suited for kids or those who want to do the simple basic tasks. Some of its features include:

PowerPC 7457 (G4) 1GHz

AMD Radeon 9200 shared

256MB DDR SDRAM RAM

4200rpm HDD

60GB HDD

14.1 inch, 1024 x 768 pixels (TN)

Mac OS X 10.4.11 Tiger though it can run on the latest Mac OS X

Has a weight of 5.9 lbs.

DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo Drive

FireWire

Dell Latitude D60 14-inch

This is one of the Dell laptops that have been in the market for a long time. Even though it comes with an old Intel Centrino processor, it can still handle many light tasks. Due to the fact that it has a small ram of 1 GB it means that it cannot perform heavy functions. It is a great laptop for kinds and some of its features include:

Intel Pentium M 760 with speeds of 1.73 GHZ

AMD Radeon X300 Dedicated

1GB DDR2 Ram

40GB 5400 RPM HDD

Windows XP professional

4.5 hours battery life

Has a weight of 4.67 Lbs.

Some of its limitations include: small ram of 1 GB, no wireless N, small storage drive, no webcam and low single core processor.

Conclusion

There are many refurbished laptops in the market though there are also many second hand laptops that are not refurbished. To make sure you end up with the right refurbished laptop, it is good to know the specification details that you are looking for or that are more important for you. This is because you can get a laptop with whatever specification you are looking for. A good refurbished laptop especially a company refurbished laptop will come with the specifications and conditions of the laptop written down which will help you in decision making. It is also important to get warranty or guarantee if there is any because despite the attention that might have been given in re making the laptop, there is still chance that an accident or something may happen to the laptop. With a warranty you are sure who is liable for replacements or repair in case anything goes wrong with the laptop. The cost of the laptop is also an important consideration, it should be within your budget and should give you value for money. There are companies that specifically just deal with refurbished laptops and they may give you guidance in case you are not sure of what you want. Reading user reviews and forums can also help as a guideline in choosing of a refurbished laptop so that you end up with the best.